Research Articles: All posts by Doug Petrovich ThM MA

During the 2012 excavations at the Ophel in Jerusalem, which is located between the Temple Mount and the City of David, Archaeologist Eilat Mazar's team discovered a large building that dates roughly to the early Iron IIA Age (1000-900 BC). One of the large storage jars discovered there was inscribed with writing. Immediate debate ensued as to the significance of this find. ABR Associate Doug Petrovich has closely followed the academic discussion, and provides ABR supporters with the following analysis of this important discovery.

Undoubtedly, one of the hottest topics in the field of OT biblical studies in recent years is the dating of the Exodus.[1] Essentially, there are two prevailing positions: the early Exodus view, which contends that the Israelite Exodus transpired during the middle of the 15th century BC, and the late Exodus view, which purports that the Israelites actually left Egypt nearly 200 years later, during the 13th century BC. On the side of the latter view, biblical archaeologists such as James Hoffmeier contend that a 13th century BC Exodus better fits the material evidence, in large part due to alleged connections between sites mentioned in the biblical text—such as the store-city of Raamses (Exod 1:11), which he asserts “is likely to be equated with the Delta capital built by and named for Ramesses II, that is, Pi-Ramesses”[2]—and excavated or identifiable sites in Egypt.

The present in-depth work examines the trustworthiness of Biblical history by using the Hebrew exodus from Egypt as a test case. More specifically, an examination of the exodus-pharaoh’s life will reveal whether Biblical history can be harmonized and synchronized with Egyptian history, and whether Biblical chronology is clear and trustworthy when relevant passages are interpreted literally. The need for evaluating the former premise is that many Egyptologists are leading the charge to deny the veracity of the exodus, attempting to persuade Biblical scholars and the Christian populace at large that the exodus never actually occurred...